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What is Neural Networks?
Neural networks mimic the basic functioning of the human brain and are inspired by how the human brain interprets information.They solve various real-time tasks because of its ability to perform computations quickly and its fast responses.
Artificial Neural Network has a huge number of interconnected processing elements, also known as Nodes. These nodes are connected with other nodes using a connection link. The connection link contains weights, these weights contain the information about the input signal. Each iteration and input in turn leads to updation of these weights. After inputting all the data instances from the training data set, the final weights of the Neural Network along with its architecture is known as the Trained Neural Network. This process is called Training of Neural Networks.These trained neural networks solve specific problems as defined in the problem statement.
Types of tasks that can be solved using an artificial neural network include Classification problems, Pattern Matching, Data Clustering, etc.
Importance of Neural Networks
We use artificial neural networks because they learn very efficiently and adaptively. They have the capability to learn “how” to solve a specific problem from the training data it receives. After learning, it can be used to solve that specific problem very quickly and efficiently with high accuracy.
Some real-life applications of neural networks include Air Traffic Control, Optical Character Recognition as used by some scanning apps like Google Lens, Voice Recognition, etc.
What are Neural Networks Used For?
Neural networks are employed across various domains for:
Identifying objects, faces, and understanding spoken language in applications like self-driving cars and voice assistants.
Analyzing and understanding human language, enabling sentiment analysis, chatbots, language translation, and text generation.
Diagnosing diseases from medical images, predicting patient outcomes, and drug discovery.
Predicting stock prices, credit risk assessment, fraud detection, and algorithmic trading.
Personalizing content and recommendations in e-commerce, streaming platforms, and social media.
Powering robotics and autonomous vehicles by processing sensor data and making real-time decisions.
Enhancing game AI, generating realistic graphics, and creating immersive virtual environments.
Monitoring and optimizing manufacturing processes, predictive maintenance, and quality control.
Analyzing complex datasets, simulating scientific phenomena, and aiding in research across disciplines.
Generating music, art, and other creative content.
Types of Neural Networks in Machine Learning
Explore different kinds of neural networks in machine learning in this section: Uses of Neural network
Artificial Neural Network (ANN)
ANN is also known as an artificial neural network. It is a feed-forward neural network because the inputs are sent in the forward direction. It can also contain hidden layers which can make the model even denser. They have a fixed length as specified by the programmer. It is used for Textual Data or Tabular Data. A widely used real-life application is Facial Recognition. It is comparatively less powerful than CNN and RNN.
(Convolution Neural Network (CNN)
CNNs is mainly used for Image Data. It is used for Computer Vision. Some of the real-life applications are object detection in autonomous vehicles. It contains a combination of convolutional layers and neurons. It is more powerful than both ANN and RNN.
Recurrent Neural Network (RNN)
It is also known as RNNs. It is used to process and interpret time series data. In this type of model, the output from a processing node is fed back into nodes in the same or previous layers. The most known types of RNN are LSTM (Long Short Term Memory) Networks
Now that we know the basics about Neural Networks, We know that Neural Networks’ learning capability is what makes it interesting.
Types of Learnings in Neural Networks
Supervised Learning
Unsupervised Learning
Reinforcement Learning
Supervised Learning
As the name suggests Supervised Learning, it is a type of learning that is looked after by a supervisor. It is like learning with a teacher. There are input training pairs that contain a set of input and the desired output. Here the output from the model is compared with the desired output and an error is calculated, this error signal is sent back into the network for adjusting the weights. This adjustment is done till no more adjustments can be made and the output of the model matches the desired output. In this, there is feedback from the environment to the model.

Unsupervised Learning
Unlike supervised learning, there is no supervisor or a teacher here. In this type of learning, there is no feedback from the environment, there is no desired output and the model learns on its own. During the training phase, the inputs are formed into classes that define the similarity of the members. Each class contains similar input patterns. On inputting a new pattern, it can predict to which class that input belongs based on similarity with other patterns. If there is no such class, a new class is formed.

Reinforcement Learning
It gets the best of both worlds, that is, the best of both Supervised learning and Unsupervised learning. It is like learning with a critique. Here there is no exact feedback from the environment, rather there is critique feedback. The critique tells how close our solution is. Hence the model learns on its own based on the critique information. It is similar to supervised learning in that it receives feedback from the environment, but it is different in that it does not receive the desired output information, rather it receives critique information.

What is a Convolutional Neural Network?
A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is a type of artificial intelligence especially good at processing images and videos. They are inspired by the structure of the human visual cortex.
CNNs are used in many applications like image recognition, facial recognition, and medical imaging analysis. They are able to automatically extract features from images, which makes them very powerful tools.
Here are some key points about CNNs, incorporating your keywords naturally:
Input Layer: CNNs start with an input layer that takes in the raw image data.
Nonlinear: They apply nonlinear activation functions, like the sigmoid, to introduce nonlinearity into the model.
Advancements: Recent advancements in CNNs have significantly improved their performance in various tasks.
Next Layer: After the convolutional layer, the next layer typically involves pooling or another convolution to further process the data.
Pattern Recognition: CNNs are exceptional at pattern recognition, which is crucial for tasks like image and speech recognition.
Multilayer Perceptron: While CNNs are distinct from traditional multilayer perceptrons, they often incorporate fully connected layers similar to those in MLPs.
Sigmoid: Nonlinear activation functions such as the sigmoid function are often used in the network to add nonlinearity.
Automate: CNNs help automate the feature extraction process, reducing the need for manual intervention.
How Does a Neural Network Work?
According to Arthur Samuel, one of the early American pioneers in the field of computer gaming and artificial intelligence, he defined machine learning as:
Example
Suppose we arrange for some automatic means of testing the effectiveness of any current weight assignment in terms of actual performance and provide a mechanism for altering the weight assignment so as to maximize the performance. We need not go into the details of such a procedure to see that it could be made entirely automatic and to see that a machine so programmed would “learn” from its experience.
Working Explained
An artificial neuron can be thought of as a simple or multiple linear regression model with an activation function at the end. A neuron from layer i will take the output of all the neurons from the later i-1 as inputs calculate the weighted sum and add bias to it. After this is sent to an activation function as we saw in the previous diagram. What is neural network
The first neuron from the first layer is connected to all the inputs from the previous layer, Similarly, the second neuron from the first hidden layer will also be connected to all the inputs from the previous layer and so on for all the neurons in the first hidden layer.
For neurons in the second hidden layer (outputs of the previously hidden layer) are considered as inputs and each of these neurons are connected to previous neurons, likewise. This whole process is called Forward propagation.
After this, there is an interesting thing that happens. Once we have predicted the output it is then compared to the actual output. We then calculate the loss and try to minimize it. But how can we minimize this loss? For this, there comes another concept which is known as Back Propagation. We will understand more about this in another article. I will tell you how it works. First, the loss is calculated then weights and biases are adjusted in such a way that they try to minimize the loss. Weights and biases are updated with the help of another algorithm called gradient descent. We will understand more about gradient descent in a later section. We basically move in the direction opposite to the gradient. This concept is derived from the Taylor series.